It’s happened ! Jodie and I are engaged. We had a wonderful weekend in Paris, staying in a beautiful hotel. Jodie and I went out to dinner on Saturday night (26th of May), on the river, across from Notre Dame. Jodie accepted my proposal, as evidenced by the attached picture !
More to follow on the whole weekend…
Budapest, May 2007
For the first Bank holiday long weekend of the year we escaped London and headed to Hungary for our first trip to Eastern Europe. We headed off Friday afternoon and arrived in Budapest late that night, checking into our 5-star (bargain price though) hotel (Andrassy Hotel) on Andrassy Avenue – the main street which extends from Heroes Square to the Western Bank of the River Danube which looks across to the Eastern Bank and the old town of Buda.
The next day we ventured down Andrassy Avenue for a great lunch in Café Menza – here we had our first authentic Hungarian goulash followed by goulash mains and some lumpy doughy type substance … yum? Next was the gorgeous St. Stephens Basilica, where St. Stephen’s hand lays preserved in a glass box, over a thousand years old! Yes a little morbid. Then on to Gerbaerd, where they supposedly serve great cakes, but after being snobbed and then blatantly ignored by the waitresses I was trying to speak to, we walked out and bought ice cream cones on the riverside. Then we walked over Szechemyi Bridge to Buda, caught the Fununcular up the cliff and spent the afternoon wondering around the Buda castle, admiring the view of the river and Pest and exploring the museum. Caught a cab to the hotel and enjoyed the most amazing meal in ‘Baraka’ the restaurant in the hotel – we completely splurged on the most amazing food and wine.
The next day we explored the City Park and Heroes Square, where the Thermal Spas are. Caught the quaint little metro, with the tiny stations, down to ‘Terror Haza’, the museum detailing the history of communist Hungary and the secret police – this was all set in the building where prisoners were tortured and hung in the basement, very eye opening. Then on to the river where we enjoyed a beer and some more goulash on a floating pub on the Danube. That night we put on our party frocks and headed to the Hungarian National Opera House to see ‘Karnyone’ a comic opera. Such an amazing experience! We sipped wine in a little nook of the bar, velvet seats and wooden floors – such a beautiful old building. We of course didn’t understand a word but had an unforgettable night! Finished with dinner at ‘Goa’, an asian fusion restaurant where we talked the night away, as always, over a bottle of wine.
On our last day we went the very long way around to Vaci, the shopping district, finishing up with lunch in a French café, sitting in the sunshine watching the people go by. Ice cream again as we walked home. After a long journey back to London – complicated by me rushing us on to the wrong train at Gatwick and ending up at Victoria instead of London Bridge. Made it home finally, making plans for our next trip!!
